Daniel Brown

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I think the term “getting the ball out on time refers to the length of time the play is designated to develop. In other words from the snap until the primary reciever is in position and the ball is thrown to him. That amount of time is set as X number of seconds.

So unless you know the amount of time designated for the play to go from snap to catch, the stop watch count isn’t going to be an accurate reflection of the Qb’s skill at getting the ball out on time.

If the primary reciever is covered then the play will take longer and the Qb has to hold the ball longer. Now,,,If the QB is supposed to throw to an area that could be timed but you would have to know the play in advance. The coacjes should know and you wouldn’t.

Smiths problem has been that he doesn’t make his reads quickly and he gets sacked. It looks like he is guessing all the time.

Well that is my take, but I agree it is fun to do and I will try it watching the TV.

sfckoski

Dan, I love employing the scientific method. I’ve read about Martz and his emphasis on release time, so I think your time trials are quite appropriate. I would add an accuracy rating to each throw as well. On target, within 3 ft and uncatchable.

Frank

Too bad the sample size is so small. While these numbers are interesting – and indicative – I think it would be more interesting/important to know what the ‘gap’ was, say, 3 weeks ago, vs 1 week ago. That is, is Smith making any progress? Or is JTO getting better and increasing the gap?

daovis

Although i do think Smith holds onto the ball too long, and has absolutely no trust in his o line or feel for pressure while in the pocket (and they haven’t given him reason to since he’s been here), Martz’s offense is based on a lot of timing patterns. So if he releases the ball slowly, it may be due to slow reads, but it may also be him getting slower developing plays called for him, just by chance. So unless they are running the exact same plays, i don’t think you can accurately compare this way.

Leonard (comment one) makes a brilliant point. The time designations aren’t indicative of anything, unless the play calling is the same for all QB’s. And even if the plays are the same, the checkdowns may differ, primary targets may be different, and defenses called against that particular play may be different. These elements all affect how long the ball is held on to, in addition to the QB’s ablility.

That being said, I think Alex is by far the slowest to read and react. Hence his demise.

Lance Newberry

It’s been clear since day one that this is Smith’s biggest problem, but beyond the fact that his throwing mechanics have not been the best (he winds up to throw, something that CAN be corrected) my take has always been that he’s just very, sometimes too cautious and waits a half-second longer than maybe he should before he throws, but to me that’s always better than just winging it out there caution-to-the-winds.

The one thing about Smith is that he has always WON GAMES; almost every one he started in college (22-1 I believe) and had a growing number as a pro until he got hurt, even though he has always played on a bad team. I believe that’s because he almost never throws the really stupid interception; most of his have been on balls thrown too hard or too soft and bounce of the recievers hands. Not good, but not STUPID.

I believe that especially with a good defense it’s better to be cautious and get sacked and punt all game long than it is to throw five or six really sweet passes and then throw the one backbreaking INT… or three.

Everyone knew that he was going to be a project; it’s not his fault he was drafted too high or that he’s played on really bad teams with really bad coaches. It takes time for most QBs to develop, let’s not forget that it took Steve Young almost TEN YEARS to learn how to back off and not throw the killer INT. Smith hasn’t had nearly that much time or the quality organization around him that SY did, and yet everyone is ready to toss him out already.

It’s been said possibly too much, but Smith is REALLY smart, and more importantly he is humble and willing to learn (COMPLETELY unlike the true bust Vernon Davis) and is still REALLY young, and yet he had started winning more games than he was losing with a BAD team, and that is mostly because he didn’t make the killer mistake, the defense made plays and his team hung around in games, which allowed Smith & the team a chance to win late.

I think given time, GOOD coaching and some support on and off the field Smith will still develop into a fine QB, because he is cool under pressure (doesn’t panic or choke) he understands that sacks and punts are always better than INTs and he has a clear track record of KNOWING HOW TO WIN – which to me is way more important that a “quick release” or playing too aggressively.

Bryan

Great comments by Lance. This is something I have noticed as well. Smith does not throw (many) stupid interceptions and as a result, allows the team to hang in games until the end.

Sure, he often hangs on to the ball too long, resulting in more sacks. Hopefully this is something that can improve with time if given the opportunity.

I really believe the 49ers were a constantly improving team under Smith right up until he was hurt last year. I know it’s been stated a lot, but Smith was 7-5 in his 12 starts leading up tol the injury. That’s nothing to sneeze at given this team is 18-46 in the last 4 years (including Erickson’s last year as coach).

I’m a bit disappointed that Smith isn’t being given the opportunity to continue improving along with the team. However, if JTO is the better QB, then so be it. I’ll be cheering on whoever wins the job.

Good comments, especially by Lance. I’ve been a 49er fan since 1967 and have seen a lot of pro football. I have not watched much college football though. There is a certain “it” factor you can see in all the great ones, or the potential great ones. The first time I saw Tony Romo two years ago when he replaced Bledsoe in that game – wow – boom, boom, boom – great athletic ability in moving back and quick decisions, quick release and great arm in getting the ball right on point. AND THIS GUY WASN’T DRAFTED!!!! I don’t know what happened in his previous camps, but Kurt Warner looked fantastic right from the start in 1999. And very smooth and athletic. I really thought that Martz would be the answer for Smith, just like Walsh was for SO many QBs. VERY suprising to me that he hasn’t measured up for Martz and that the team is giving up on him. I didn’t see him in college, but his stats were TREMENDOUS and was supposed to be so smart and coachable. Very perplexing to me. I won’t comment much on O’Sullivan (pending tonight’s game), but I was underwhelmed by him last week. He doesn’t LOOK as an ATHELETE that he would ever be a great one (watch Brady, Romo, Manning, Brees…or the potentials like Cutler and you see similarities in just the way they move – JTO may have some great games/stats, but it doesn’t look to me like there is the “hope” factor that he could be a great one. It DOES look to me like Alex Smith winds up a bit and doesn’t release the ball like the great ones do. He ran a spread offense in college and racked up great numbers – how did he do that without release the ball quick enough? Notice how the Redskins rookie performed in his first NFL exhibition game JUST like he did in his spread college offense, where he had other worldly numbers. Just wondering why Alex can’t do that.

Miguel

I totally agree with some of these comments…They are not giving Alex Smith a chance here to develope or get any type of rythem. They only gave him like what 5 series and with the second string or third string O line. Im really not buying that JTO is our answer at QB, yeah he had some good throw, but lets face it this is the preseason and some of the A listers arent even playing or are playing for like 6 series in a half..Lets face facts here the journey man got beat by QB J.Kitna(lions), QB Rex(Bears) for playing time ( that says it all people)..My theory on all this is that A.Smith will be benched and that they will start the Bust/journey man JTO at QB. But of course he fails and they Fire the head coach..a losing 6-10 rec 08 season